Today's Letter from our Missionaries

Here's the letter they wanted me to post today! Enjoy...

Dear family and friends,

We are on a steep learning curve here! We are getting a little more settled everyday. Today the big event was the delivery of our new mattress. We have decided to just put it on the floor and thus avoid the extra expense of a frame and box spring...very high class. But we now have moved the blowup bed to the guest room! hint hint

We had a baptism in our district last Sat. The elders were very happy! In the two weeks before they baptized a whole family. Our district leader has been here for six months and those five baptisms are the only ones here in the past 6 mos. He goes home this Sunday so it has been satisfying for him. Another fellow committed to be baptized this Sat. but has now backed out. We went with the elders to teach him last night. Personally I think he was wise to, but of course I didn't tell the elders that.

For the first time last night we went out alone contacting part member and inactive members. We even made an appt. to teach a lesson to Javier next tues. evening. His wife is a member and they have a 5 week old baby. He is working here in a pork packing plant and he and elder garnica had fun talking about how the dirty deeds are done, all in spanish. But I caught the drift as I sat there smiling like fool who doesn't speak spanish. This could be a very weird mission if all I have to do is sit and smile.

My admiration for the elders has grown. Yesterday we had a district meeting, us and four elders whom we have so far spent lots of time with. I think they felt a little weird presenting training to us senior missionaries but they have been invaluable to us in helping us figure out what we are doing here. We decided to let the elders teach any lessons to prospective members so that if one does get baptized they can do it. So when we teach Javier on Tues. one of them will go with elder garnica. Papa will have to teach because it needs to be done in Spanish. Only two people can go cause the apt. is to small for more.

We were charged by Pres. McConkie to support and strengthen the ward and it has taken time to figure out how w
e might do that without offending the Bishop, ward missionaries, elders and home teachers. We think we may be getting a clue now but our district leaders leaves Sunday and we're getting a new bishop next week! So we will probably have to adjust. Ha!

We managed to get two easy chairs this week, now all we need is a table to eat at and some chairs. The members are great, we have visited with lots of them. I've never had to write so many thankyou notes. Many of them are willing to go with us to teach and they feed all six of us in the district 5 nights a week.

I had to give in and reveal that I can barely play the piano in RS last Sun. I had hoped to avoid that but I did promise the Lord I would do anything required while I am here! It actually turned out better than singing acapella.

Our air card hasn't arrived yet so we are in a McDonalds again using the internet. Lots of good people watching here!

Please e-mail, write and post on the blogs. Noelle put some great pictures up so can the rest of you. Keep having fun and pray for us we really need it. HAPPY NEW YEAR

LOVE, HONEY AND PAPA

Greetings from SC

Here's the email Mom & Ruben sent on Christmas Eve:

Hi Family,

We want to wish everybody MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The last couple of days have been as action packed as the first two. But today is our p-day and we are taking it easy and getting some chores done.

Right now we have purchased two hours of internet at a McDonalds near our house. We notice that with the season being so busy and all there are very few updates on any of the blogs. Remember the missionaries please. We know many of you talk to us frequently but we especially NEED pictures of Christmas festivities and childhood merriment also decorations. In our house we have a tiny chrech scene and two cards. I sound like Kru in the nursery "Whaa,
Whaa!

Monday it took all day to get a place to live,
But is nice and new, one story with nice neighbors so far. One knows wer're Mormons and is still very friendly! Monday night we went to a family named the Satterfields for dinner, they have 5 children under 7 with no twins. FUN, FROLIC AND PANDEMONIUM! We felt right at home. After dinner we went with them to take neighbor gifts and carol.
Tuesday we drove to Columbia to meet the mission president. We visited in his office for an hour and then traveled to his home for lunch with he and his wife and one son who is home for Christmas. Then we hurried back to Greenwood for dinner at another member family the Whites. They have 3 sons, one 2 so Papa told his best stories to 2 yr. old Ethan and we had dinner and visited. We were supposed to go teach a partmember family (our speciality) but they canceled til next week. Our usual bedtime has become 8:30 so we really didn't mind the cancelation. We're tired
Wens. morning we picked up the four elders in our district and went 60 mi. to Greenville for a Zone meeting. Very interesting and informative. 2 Zones were there so we met lots of elders. The President and his wife (who live in Manhattan Beach for 10 years) were there. This was a unschedualed zone conf. and the elders were on edge. They all have GREAT RESPECT!!!!!!!!!! for the Pres. He delivered their presents from home and then got down to business of calling them to account for 3 elders who were sent home last week. Elder Garnica and I will work very hard and try to stay on his good side. A very nice man!
After the conference we took the elders to lunch and went to Costco. On the way I got them all talking about their favorite breakfast cereals and when I went in and they were distracted bought them all big Costco boxes of cereal for their Christmas presents. It was fun! They were surprised. I also purchase a gps and that thing is awesome!

We are on a fast learning curve with the tech. devices now!

We love you, Pray for and and we will for you HONEY AND PAPA

Here's the 2nd email

I replied to their first email below congratulating them on setting up wireless, and here's the reply I just received - Honey asked me to post both this letter and the one below to the blog and I expect you can expect most of their letters to be posted here by one of us...

"We're here safe and sound. Took the four elders in our district out to dinner tonight. FUN

They showed us were the church is and we have ward missionary meeting at 8 am then correlation and pec whatever that is. Only one ward in a lovely building and Sacrament meeting is at 10 am. Sounds good

We had a call from the mission home with info on apts. so Mon. we will try to find a place to live, then go to Columbia to meet the Pres. (who the elders seem verrrrrrrry respectful of) and see if the couch they have waiting for us is clean enough for me to sit on!

It's all good, we love you all, Honey and Papa

PS set it up all by myself tonight! HA"

First Missionary Email from Honey and Papa

Here's the email they sent this morning! Sounds like things are off to a good start!

"Hi Family immediate and extended,

Tonight we are staying in Dechard Tenn. the birthplace of my paternal grandfather. Our trip has been fairly uneventful, that's alright with us! After leaving L.V. on Monday we went to Kingman AZ were we decided to go ahead and follow interstate 40 most of the way across the U.S. Mostly very boring from AZ to Arkansas. Fields and fields and fields and fields...you get the picture. Yesterday however as we entered Arkansas I remembered I knew two different families that live in that state. I called grandpa miller and he called Beth Paullin and thru the miracle of cell phones I had Jeff and Jan Jacksons' phone number, an offer for a yummy dinner, a place to stay and a great visit. We even found out that Jeffs nephew and his family live in our home ward in Ivins! I also got to talk to Linda Valliere today although we had already passed their place of residence yesterday. FUN!

Today when we got to Memphis Tenn. we took off on a two lane road that brought us to Dechard after only five hours. But the scenery was lots better than on the interstate. We even witnessed a one car accident right in front of us. We stopped and Ruben checked the lady out, someone else stopped who actually knew where we were and offered to call the tow truck and police. So we took off.

After looking around here in the morning we are going on to Greenwood S.C. where we have been assigned to live and labor. I spoke to the mission president today and we are to go Greenwood contact our district leader, find a place to live, settle in, and then perhaps go to Columbia to meet him. So that's what we will do!

Please be reasonably impressed.. We hooked up to wireless internet this evening and all it took was one phone call to trusty Bridget on the cell phone to talk me thru it. Aren't I smart! And that Noelle calls me a techno peasant. HA!

For us this all counts as high adventure! WE LOVE AND MISS ALL OF YOU ALREADY! LISTEN! BLOGS ARE GOING TO BE VERY IMPORTANT TO US THIS YEAR - BLOG MORE! Consider it as service to us missionarys.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL - HONEY AND PAPA"

Family Fast on Sunday!

We are going back to the childrens hospital on Thursday for Hallie's angiogram. We are supposed to meet with the neurologists soon after the test and they will have a better idea of what is going on.

She has been doing really good! Her eye is slowly making progress, it is looking a lot more normal which is such a relief. She still has to wear an eye patch for 2 hours every day, she doesn't mind it so much as long as she gets a yummy treat or 5:)

I will do my best to post an update by the end of the week, but wanted to let you all know that we will be fasting for her this Sunday. Please join in if you can! Love you.

UPDATE: So, after spending hours on the phone with our insurance company yesterday, I couldn't get a straight answer about whether or not they would pay for it so I had to cancel the procedure for now.... frustrating. We should have full coverage by the 1st of the year, so it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer.